Scottish and EU referenda

The next three to four years will be a defining period in UK politics, starting from now. It seems hard to believe but the Scottish independence referendum has crept up on us and Scots will be voting in vast numbers on the 18th of September on the future of our great Union, producing a result which could have potentially huge implications for our 300 year history.

We are also already gearing up for the general election next year. Should the Conservative Party deliver a majority of seats in 2015 and form a Government on its own, the whole of the UK will be given a chance to vote in a referendum on European Union membership in 2017. Once again, the result has possible major ramifications.

However, while both referenda concern the independence of one polity from a wider one, I believe the answers to them are fundamentally different, for one reason in particular. The political structure of the in the UK respects the individual nations which make up the Union, while at the same time sharing the benefits of being a Union. On the other hand, the EU chips away at individualism, hoping one day for a United States of Europe where people will think of themselves as European first and German, Italian or British second.

I am immensely proud of the fact that the United Kingdom has maintained its unique cultures over centuries. Over the last 300 hundred years Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales have maintained and grown their own identities, while working together for the benefit of all. We have fought world wars together; regiments from all parts of the UK, some wearing kilts in battle, have fought as one to overcome fascism. UK athletes in London contributing to a hugely successful Olympic Games in 2012 and then splitting off into their respective nations during an equally successful Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this year but, vitally, maintaining those friendships and bonds which make us strong as the UK.

I understand this myself given my own family background. I was born in England the daughter of Scottish parents and the granddaughter of an Irishman. I am proud to be British. We are all proud of our identities and we may poke fun at each other from time to time – particularly when it comes to sport – but at the end of the day, we all consider ourselves to be British too.

Sadly, this same respect is often not shown to Member States in the European Union. Since first being elected to the European Parliament in 2009 I have worked on the Culture and Education committee. I constantly have to battle against proposed legislation which attempts to water down Member State identities. Surprisingly many colleagues from other political persuasions across different Member States are all too happy to agree with these proposals. One particularly memorable one was the idea to require the EU flag to be sewn on to Member State international football kits. The UK Government doesn’t impose itself in this way, so what right does the EU have?

So while I hope Scotland stays as an essential part of the United Kingdom, the EU must stop mission creep of this kind if it wants the British public to vote to stay in the EU.